Who We Are

Teaching Community

Mark Fedronic

Mark Fedronic is an Oakland-based teacher, composer, and trombonist. Mark earned a BA in Humanities, with a focus in Music and Literature, from Yale University in 2015, and is thrilled to be on the zSharp team. He believes deeply in the power of music to heal and bring people together in refreshing ways. In addition to zSharp, Mark currently works as a trombone and musicianship instructor at Enriching Lives through Music, a non-profit program that provides free instrumental music education to low income students in San Rafael. Mark also works as a trombone clinician at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael and Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland. Mark tutors high school students around the Bay Area in SAT and ACT test preparation and French, Spanish, English, and History. When not teaching, Mark enjoys writing music and performing with his funk rock band, More Fatter - the band recently played sold out shows at Great American Music Hall and the Independent in San Francisco, and is currently working on recording new music.

Annie Smith

Annie Smith is a Bay Area based performer and teacher. She holds an MM in voice from San Francisco Conservatory and a BM in voice from Boston Conservatory. Recent operatic roles include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. She performs regularly with Oakland based hip-hop chamber group Ensemble Mik Nawooj, who recently made their east coast debut at the Apollo Music Cafe in Harlem. She also is a founder of Fête Concerts, which throws birthday parties for composers, educating and entertaining audiences with music and birthday cake. Annie began teaching in classrooms in 2014 with Music for Minors, and has been teaching voice and piano privately since 2010. This is Annie’s first year at zSharp.

Jennifer Trowbridge

Jennifer Trowbridge has enjoyed a career in guitar performance spanning classical music, jazz, world music, blues, and rock which has put her on stages in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Jerusalem, and Istanbul. She began playing banjo-ukulele at age three and the guitar at age four under the tutelage of her father, the drummer and bandleader of his own jazz orchestra in the 1950’s. Jennifer moved to Oakland in 2016 after running a successful guitar school in Chicago for nearly twenty years and teaching guitar and music theory at the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp in Michigan for three years. She is a founding member of Bay Area jazz ensemble Mary Lou’s Apartment and has collaborated with opera singers, flamenco dancers, puppeteers, actors, poets, and filmmakers. As a teacher, she incorporates puppets, literature, song, and dance into her curriculum. She composed music for an award-winning documentary called The Pantanal: Brazil’s Forgotten Wilderness. Jennifer received her bachelor's degree in music from the University of Chicago and her doctorate in guitar performance from Northwestern University. She teaches guitar, piano, drums, banjo, and ukulele at Trowbridge Music in Oakland. Teaching zSharp classes fulfills her deep commitment to fostering intellectual confidence, cultural connection, and emotional expression, health, and healing through music instruction.

Jennifer Wu

Jennifer Wu is excited to join the zSharp team from Toronto, Canada, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Voice, and Bachelor of Education from Wilfrid Laurier University, and is currently in the midst of completing her Master of Arts in Community Music. She is an alumna of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. Jennifer has been teaching voice and piano for over 5 years, where her students ranged from 5 to 65 in age—one is never too old or too young to make music! Her love for diverse teaching experiences has given her the opportunity to work with international students, children with special needs, English language learners, as well as university students in a variety of settings. In the public school system, she has taught grades 1-8 in Music, Math and Language Arts. As a performer, Jennifer’s credits include, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Laurier), and Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel (Opera Laurier), as well as solo and collaborative recitals.

Staff

Sonya Harway, Program Director

Sonya is a music educator, singer-songwriter, pianist and vocalist. She came to zSharp from Washington DC, where she earned her Bachelor's degree at The George Washington University in Piano Performance with a concentration in Vocal Studies. She continued her graduate studies in musicology and music pedagogy at The Catholic University of America. Sonya has taught music to students from preschool to high school with fifteen years of teaching experience, including five years with zSharp. She has participated in orchestras, choirs, and a cappella ensembles on both coasts, in addition to leading her own bands. Sonya completed Levels One and Two with SF Orff in Carmel Valley and will return for Level Three in 2018.

Jackie Hasa, Interim Executive Director

Jackie Hasa has served Bay Area nonprofits working in the arts, education, and environmental sectors for more than a decade. For the last year, she has worked as a development and capacity building consultant for zSharp, as well as Leap | Arts in Education, Bay Area Music Project, and Opera Parallèle, among others. Prior to consulting, she was a Managing Director at the David Brower Center, where she led the organization as part of a collaborative leadership team. She has also held positions in development, programming, and communications at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and Harder+Company Community Research. She received a B.A. in English Literature from U.C. Berkeley with highest honors, and completed graduate-level courses in English and Critical Theory at U.C. Irvine before deciding to dedicate herself to nonprofit work. A believer in lifelong education in arts and culture, she recently spent six months in Mexico City learning Spanish at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In her free time, she takes ceramics classes, organizes the urban hiking club Wanderers Union, and serves as a collective member for the 34 Trinity Arts & News bookstore.

Board

Joshua Lachs, President, Board of Directors

Josh brings a deep background in executive leadership within the nonprofit, education, and social enterprise sectors. Most recently, Josh served as CEO for Breakthrough Collaborative, an award-winning national organization focused on college- and career-readiness; and the country’s largest pre-residency program for aspiring educators. He currently consults for several social venture start-ups in the areas of strategic and business planning, talent development, external relations, and resource development. Previously, Josh served as Chief Officer of Workforce Development & Community Engagement for Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin, a nationally reputed job training enterprise. In his prior life, Josh spent many years serving as a university dean, where he led several continuing education divisions. Deeply committed to zSharp's music education mission. Josh grew up with a love of world music and learned Arfo-Cuban percussion as an adult. He and his family call Berkeley their home. His boys attend public school. He holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley in Comparative Religions and two Masters degrees Education Policy and Administration from Columbia University.

Adam Lovingood

As a practicing attorney for nearly 20 years, Adam has held executive- and board- level positions in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds. He gets his love of music and singing from his mother and maternal grandmother. He grew up singing in church and school choirs, performing as a soloist and participating in various other performance arts. Cherishing the important role music has played in his life, Adam hopes to share that passion with others through his involvement with zSharp. Professionally, he has worked with composers, filmmakers and music publishers in relation to the licensing and distribution of digital content. In addition to music, his other loves are travel, food, wine and art. He’s a published writer and photographer. He holds a BA from the University of Virginia and his JD from the University of California-Berkeley.

Brandon Miller

Brandon brings more than a decade of HR experience to the board and currently serves as a Sr. HR Business Partner at Ubisoft in San Francisco. This is his first board appointment and is highly committed to and energized by the zSharp mission. Playing piano for most of his teen and adult life, Brandon still practices at home when he can and is devoted to making a difference in ensuring children everywhere have access to music education. He was also a member of the Stetson Children’s Choir in Florida, where he sang for a couple of years (where did that voice go?). Home life keeps Brandon busy with his husband and 2 dogs, who all live in San Francisco; you can even find him playing piano and singing to his dogs in his spare time. In addition to music, Brandon also loves being a home winemaker and enjoying the many parks and outdoor spaces the Bay Area has to offer.

Miki Sakata-Pinguelo

Miki began taking piano lessons at the age of five and competed in local and state level competitions throughout her childhood. She was accepted into The Florida State University’s School of Music where she was awarded both academic and music scholarships and earned a Bachelor of Musical Arts. One of her lasting memories of Florida State, in addition to becoming a life long ‘Nole football fan, was that she, along with all music majors, attended one hundred and twenty student recitals as a prerequisite to receiving a music degree. It was at this time that she developed a strong foundation and appreciation for musical arts. Although her career took her away from the piano and into financial services, she is passing along her passion for music to her son, who also plays the piano. She is currently a regional director for a national retirement plan provider with a focus on working with tax-exempt organizations. Miki, her husband, and son reside in Kensington. She excited to be apart of the zSharp team and is looking forward to moving forward the ideals and mission.

Joseph Jackson

Joseph brings a unique combination of experience from business, public policy, government, and hospitality. Currently, Joseph serves as CEO for Jackson Business Group, a parent company of multiple property management, transportation, and consulting companies. He currently sits on three boards in the nonprofit and for-profit spheres, as well as a government committee, and zSharp is by far his favorite commitment. Originally from Richmond, Joseph attended public schools in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, where zSharp has its most concentrated presence. He gained a love of all music, and particularly the trumpet, from the classes he had taken while in school. However, his school's music classes were cut after a short two years due to lack of funding, a personally significant motivating factor in his support for zSharp.